Logo Variations: Discovering Versatile Branding

You know more than anyone else that your brand, or the brand you work for, is not a 2-dimensional entity. 

Sure, your brand has a core product offering. But it also has other secondary offerings, employees, and a brand personality. And logos are just a great way to capture all that, and distill it into your business’s visual identity.

But just like your business, logos are not a one-and-done situation. Which is why so many businesses put the time and effort into designing more than just a single logo variation to represent themselves to their target audiences.

In this blog, we will explore the world of logo variations, the benefits of having more than just a single logo type, and how you can design great logo variations too!

What Are Logo Variants & Why Are They Important?

Logo variants are exactly what they sound like: variations of a brand’s primary logo. They are essentially the same logo designs but with different colours, tints, shades, fonts or design layouts.

You might think of it as having a logo that’s dressed in casual attire. But then for all sorts of different occasions, you dress it up in semi-casual, formal wear, work uniforms, business casual, etc.

Like the example above, logo variations are important because they allow the use of different logos for different occasions. They allow you to seamlessly adapt your branding for different uses or for different audiences.

For example, on product labels or customer-facing marketing materials you might use a more fun or “laid back” logo variant. But then on business-related materials, like client proposals, business plans or financial documents, you may want to use a more formal, professional-looking logo variant.

The Many Different Types Of Logo Variants

Now that you know what logo variations are, let us look at a few different ways you might create logo variations for your business.

Colour Variations

You probably already know the importance of colours in branding. Which is precisely why colour variants are one of the easiest and most impactful ways to design different design variants.

By playing around with different colour palettes you can completely change the feel of a logo. 

Just to list a few examples of this… Colourful logos can feel fun and vibrant. Blue-toned logos can feel calm, reassuring and professional. And black and white logos are great for taking a more serious approach to branding.

Lockup Variations

Lockup variations are just different design layouts of your primary logo. So essentially they maintain your core logo’s icon, colours, fonts, tagline or slogans. But then they combine them in different layouts to suit different spacing and placement requirements.

Lockup variations allow you to adjust your branding as needed for whenever or wherever you need to use your design.

Real World Examples Of Logo Variations

Now we take a look at how some real-world businesses have used logo variations in the past.

Nickelodeon – Playful To The Core

Nickelodeon is a TV channel with a much younger audience demographic. So fun and colourful logo variations are a must. 

But the brand can change its logo entirely simply by changing from a colourful to a monochromatic design. If they use a black and white colour palette, their logo is instantly changed into a more sophisticated design. This could be used to resonate with older audiences, business partners, etc.

Universal Studios – Timeless And Classic

This next brand has a classic logo that audiences across decades love and recognize. 

Universal’s famous globe logo is just a grand representation of the business itself. But what we love about it is the way that Universal adapts its logo based on the movie it’s used in. 

It can use a colourful logo for movies geared toward younger audiences. But then it can use simple, and more refined logo variants for more serious movies, projects or purposes.

Nike – Celebrating Excitement

If you know anything about marketing or branding you already know how great the Nike Swoosh logo really is. But what is even more insightful is how Nike has used that logo in different ways over the years.

And because of that, today, that famous Swoosh is a symbol of athleticism, endurance, action, excitement, and brand loyalty.

Tips For Designing Effective Logo Variants

• Embracing change – The whole point of creating logo variations is to explore a different realm of versatility. The idea is to create logos for different purposes. So make sure to look for various ways to adapt your design to different purposes. 
• Straying too far – Straying too far from your original designs is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Radical design variations may make your branding unrecognizable which is the last thing you want to do.
• Scalability – It is also important to ensure that your design variations are versatile and scalable. You need to be able to use your variants on different sizes of marketing materials. So scalability should also be prioritized when creating logo variations.

Pro Tip

Scalability is important. So is consistency. But authenticity might just be the most important aspect to consider when designing logo variants. Yes, the goal is to create different designs. But every variation needs to be aligned with your business.

Design Your Brand With GraphicSprings

Here at GraphicSprings, we help brands of all sizes to design the best logo imaginable. And that’s why we provide all the knowledge and tools you need to create professional branding.

Check out our logo design idea pages or get in touch with us to design your logo through our custom logo service. 

Or you can try out our AI logo generator to design logos, play around with variations and create the branding your business needs to get out there!